I just found out that Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog, just saw his shadow and retreated back into his home for 6 more weeks of winter. It got me to thinking, “are you afraid of your own shadow too?”
Being afraid of your own shadow means that you retreat or give in to something that has no substance. So what could that shadow be?
I see the shadow as The Critic that follows you everywhere you go and is there for everything you attempt and do. I’m sure you have some New Year’s Resolutions that you may have forgotten about by now. But worse yet, your new goals and dreams may have been sabotaged by your shadow-critic, telling you it will never work, you will never change or improve and to just retreat back into your hole.
Your shadow-critic can be both YOURSELF and OTHER PEOPLE who scare you into submission with both doubts and fears, causing you to hibernate and hope for “better days to come along” instead of forging on toward the life you want and can have.
Since the sunshine creates your shadow, I suggest on this Groundhog’s Day you focus on the shining potential of a New Day instead of the darkness, or like Bill Murray’s character in the movie of the same name, you could be condemned to repeat the same fear-induced mistakes over and over until you finally put your shadow-critic in its rightful place–behind you.
Thank goodness we aren’t groundhogs!
Brad Scornavacco
Head of School